Mario Salamanca

Binance closed 2025 with numbers that, a few years ago, would have sounded unrealistic even for the most optimistic crypto believers. More than 300 million users, $34 trillion in total trading volume, and one of the strongest regulatory milestones in the industry. But beyond the headlines, the real question is simple: what does this mean for everyday crypto users?

From Growth to Maturity

Reaching 300 million users is not just a vanity metric. It signals that crypto is no longer a niche space dominated by early adopters and speculators. Binance has become a global financial platform used daily by people from all backgrounds, across dozens of jurisdictions. This level of adoption places crypto closer than ever to traditional financial infrastructure, but with the speed, transparency, and accessibility that Web3 promises.

Regulation Without Losing the Crypto Spirit

One of the most important highlights of the 2025 report is Binance becoming one of the first crypto platforms fully approved by a global regulator, ADGM. For users, this matters more than it sounds. Regulatory clarity reduces uncertainty, strengthens trust, and creates a safer environment without necessarily killing innovation. It’s a sign that crypto can scale globally while still playing by clear, enforceable rules.

Security Is No Longer Optional

In 2025 alone, Binance helped prevent $6.69 billion in scam-related losses. That number represents more than just technology. It reflects years of investment in risk detection, user education, and real-time monitoring. For users, this means fewer bad actors, safer transactions, and a platform that actively protects its community instead of reacting after damage is done.

$34 Trillion in Trades: Liquidity at Scale

Handling $34 trillion in trading volume shows just how deep Binance’s liquidity has become. High liquidity means tighter spreads, better execution, and less slippage, especially during volatile market conditions. For both beginners and advanced users, this translates into a smoother, more reliable trading experience.

Web3 Made Simpler With Binance Alpha 2.0

The launch of Binance Alpha 2.0 reflects a shift toward usability. Web3 discovery, on-chain tools, and decentralized applications are no longer hidden behind complex interfaces. Instead, Binance is making them easier, more intuitive, and even enjoyable to explore. This is critical if crypto is going to move from speculation to real-world use.

Beyond Hype, Toward Infrastructure

The 2025 report makes one thing clear: crypto is evolving. Binance’s growth shows the industry moving away from pure hype cycles and closer to becoming a functional part of the global financial system. Adoption, security, compliance, and usability are now as important as innovation.

For users, this means more trust, better tools, and a stronger foundation to build on. Crypto is no longer just about what’s possible tomorrow. It’s about what already works today.

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Bitcoin’s Q1 2026 Outlook. Bitcoin’s price action early in the year will be pivotal. CryptoQuant’s CEO Ki Young Ju forecasts “sideways” or “boring” trading for BTC in Q1 2026, as capital inflows have slowed and money rotates into stocks and gold. Indeed, Bitcoin spent late 2025 stuck around $88K–$94K after heavy ETF outflows. This doesn’t necessarily signal a crash – historical seasonality matters. Average January returns since 2013 are about +3.8%, with February/March also strong. Analysts note that January often sets the Q1 trend: e.g. Jan 2023 saw a short-term peak, whereas Jan 2024 marked the yearly low post-ETF approvals. Traders should watch if BTC holds key support ($90K) or breaks toward resistance ($98–100K). These moves will guide market sentiment. (See Binance’s Bitcoin price page for live BTC charts and data.)

CryptoQuant (Ki Young Ju): “Bitcoin will trade sideways” in Q1 2026 as inflows dry up.
CoinMarketCap reports historical January averages of +3.8% (and Feb +13%, Mar +12%) for Bitcoin.
Keep an eye on the ~$90K support line (Binance shows ~[$90.5K]) and any breakouts toward $100K.

Figure: Bitcoin (BTC/USD) price chart (December 2024–January 2026) on BitMEX. Bitcoin rallied to $109K in Jan 2025 before a pullback; after late-2025 consolidation, early 2026 has so far been range-bound.

Altcoins & Market Breadth. While BTC stagnates, altcoins have grabbed traders’ attention. Recent data show altcoins now account for about 50% of total crypto trading volume, up from much smaller shares earlier. As Bitcoin treaded water, high-beta tokens rallied: Polygon (MATIC) spiked ~50%, Solana memecoin BONK ~28%, and Binance Coin (BNB) ~3.4% in early January. This volume rotation indicates traders seeking higher risk/reward rather than fleeing crypto. Crypto sentiment (the Fear & Greed Index) remains neutral-to-cautious (~41), so any altcoin surge may be tactical. Nonetheless, some analysts now see 2026 as a potential “altcoin season.” Michael van de Poppe, a well-known trader, argues patient investors focusing on strong fundamentals could be rewarded in 2026; he highlights projects like Arbitrum (ARB), Chainlink (LINK), and NEAR as examples of coins quietly building while prices lag. In short, watch how far broad participation spreads: if Ethereum and large-cap alts recover and leadership shifts away from BTC, volatility could rise. (Binance’s Ethereum price page and similar charts are useful for tracking ETH and altcoin trends.)

CryptoQuant chart (below) illustrates this shift: BTC’s share of volume (brown) has fallen as altcoins (green/blue) rise.
Several large alts saw outsized gains even as Bitcoin flatlined, suggesting short-term rotation.
Trader Michael van de Poppe expects 2026 to “change the pattern” and favor select altcoins with strong development.

Figure: CryptoQuant “dominance by volume” chart (through Jan 2026). Bitcoin’s share of trading volume (brown) has recently fallen near 50%, with altcoins (green/blue) making up the rest. White line = BTC price (USD).

Trading Volume & Flows. Liquidity trends will drive swings. After a subdued year-end (Galaxy Digital notes muted volumes and ~$4 billion outflow from spot BTC ETFs in Nov–Dec 2025), early 2026 has seen capital reenter. CoinMetrics reports that U.S. Bitcoin ETFs snapped an outflow streak, bringing in ~$400 million net on Jan 5 (and ~$925 million over the first 3 trading days). Stablecoin flows – a gauge of dollar capital moving into crypto – also turned positive in January after hitting net outflows in late 2025. Together, these signal fresh buying power returning to markets. Investors should monitor exchange orderbooks and volume indicators: rising volumes on Binance and other exchanges could confirm momentum. If volumes pick up alongside price moves, trends are likelier to continue; if volumes remain low, whipsaws can occur.

December 2025 was quiet: BTC/ETH mostly range-bound and ETF outflows (~$4 b) dominated.
January 2026 saw a reversal: spot BTC ETFs recorded ~$400M inflow on Jan 5 and ~$925M in the first week.
Stablecoin net inflows have returned, indicating renewed buying power.

Market Sentiment & Macro. Overall sentiment is cautious-but-optimistic. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index in early Jan hovered around 40–45 (neutral zone), meaning traders are not exuberant. Geopolitical and macro headlines can still trigger volatility: for example, a Venezuelan crisis news spike in early January briefly pushed BTC down, whereas traditional hedges (gold/oil) reacted predictably. A TabTrader analysis confirms “risk sentiment: neutral” and notes that capital is “rotating internally rather than exiting,” with Bitcoin absorbing flows as a defensive default. One big event to watch: on Jan 15, the U.S. Congress will hold hearings on crypto market structure legislation. Historical data show that regulatory clarity often precedes inflows. Thus, any news on ETF approvals or rules could swing prices.

Crypto Fear & Greed ~41 (Neutral) in early Jan, indicating neither panic nor greed.
Major macro/geo events (e.g. Fed minutes, foreign conflicts) have been factored in; this week’s U.S. jobs report and Jan 15 hearings could spark moves.
Analysts note January often “marks inflection points” under past cycles and that regulatory milestones can change sentiment.

Why Early-Year Volatility Is Normal. In summary, elevated swings in Q1 shouldn’t be surprising – they are part of the cycle. Year-end is usually a “clearing” phase: low liquidity, tax- or profit-taking, and heavy rebalancing often produce muted moves. When the new year begins, fresh capital and narratives enter. As Galaxy Digital observes, crypto markets often wind down in Dec and then reprice in Q1. Empirical analyses confirm that January has historically been more volatile than other months. For example, Amberdata reports that Q1 2025 saw “extreme price swings” even as Bitcoin repeatedly broke record highs. Given this context, investors should expect choppiness around year-start and plan accordingly. Maintaining a long-term view – “volatility is inherent to crypto” – can help ride out the swings. Using real-time tools (Binance charts, on-chain dashboards) and setting measured stop/loss levels is wiser than panic-selling on a dip.

Cycles & Seasonality: Historically, each January has acted as an “inflection point” in crypto cycles. Q1 2025 alone saw Bitcoin surge to ~$109K and plunge ~30% on news events.
Year-End Positioning: Funds often “lock in” gains by December, leading to low liquidity. New-year reallocations then trigger larger moves. As TabTrader notes, capital tends to rotate internally in early Jan before flowing back out.
Remain Prepared: Sharp moves can occur in either direction. Using stop-loss orders, diversification, and checking live data (e.g. Binance’s price pages) can help manage risk.

Bottom Line: Watch Bitcoin’s range levels, altcoin volume, ETF/flow data, and market sentiment in Q1. But remember: turbulence early in the year is common, not a sign of crisis. By understanding these dynamics and keeping a long-term perspective, investors can stay calm and make more informed decisions as the market finds its footing in 2026.

Binance periodically reviews its markets and removes trading pairs with low activity to maintain a healthier trading ecosystem. On January 9, 2026, Binance — one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges — removed 23 spot trading pairs from its platform after conducting a market quality review. The exchange cited low trading volume and poor liquidity as the primary reasons for this move, which is part of a routine cleanup to ensure users have access to active and robust markets. While news of delistings can initially spark concern among traders, Binance’s decision in this case is broadly viewed as a positive step toward protecting users and improving overall trading conditions. Below, we break down what happened, why it’s actually good for traders, and how to navigate such changes.

Key Details of the Jan 9 Delisting Announcement

23 Pairs Delisted: Binance ceased trading on 23 spot trading pairs effective January 9, 2026, at 06:00 UTC, following a periodic market quality review. This included pairs like 1000SATS/FDUSD, 2Z/BNB, AEVO/BTC, BARD/FDUSD and many more, spanning various altcoins and quote currencies.
Rationale – Low Liquidity: The primary reasons given were poor liquidity and low trading volume in those pairs, which failed to meet Binance’s quality standards. Such pairs were identified as underperforming markets that could impact trading efficiency.
Tokens Remain Tradeable: Importantly, the underlying tokens are not being removed from Binance. Only the specific pairings are affected. Binance clarified that users can still trade each affected asset via other available trading pairs on the platform (for example, against USDT, BTC, or BNB). In other words, if your coin lost a particular pair, you can usually find it listed with a more liquid base currency, and your holdings are not frozen or lost.
Automated Bots Deactivated: Binance deactivated any spot trading bots configured for the delisted pairs at the time of removal. Users were advised to update or cancel their trading bot settings beforehand to avoid potential losses. This precaution ensures that no automated orders keep running in a market that’s no longer active.

Binance’s Rationale: Market Quality and User Protection

Binance conducts regular reviews of all listed trading pairs to maintain a high-quality trading environment. If a pair has consistently low liquidity or minimal trading activity, it can fail to meet the exchange’s standards for market efficiency. Why does this matter? In thinly traded markets, order books are sparse – there may not be enough buyers or sellers at a given time – leading to wider bid-ask spreads and erratic price swings. Binance notes that removing such pairs is a proactive measure to protect users from the downsides of illiquid markets and to uphold trading quality on the platform. By delisting underperforming pairs, Binance concentrates liquidity into its more active markets, which helps stabilize prices and improve trade execution for everyone.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time Binance has trimmed its offerings for quality reasons. The exchange periodically makes similar decisions; for example, in late 2025 Binance removed several margin trading pairs that no longer met its liquidity criteria, all part of an effort to ensure market stability and security. In the present case, many of the 23 pairs targeted for removal involved either obscure altcoins or less-used quote currencies (such as the FDUSD stablecoin) that hadn’t attracted sufficient trading interest. Rather than keep these stagnant markets open (where traders could face high slippage or difficulty executing orders), Binance opted to retire them in favor of healthier trading alternatives.

Why Removing Low-Liquidity Pairs Benefits Traders

For traders, eliminating highly illiquid trading pairs is ultimately beneficial. When a trading pair doesn’t have enough activity, it can lead to higher slippage, poor price execution, or even opportunities for price manipulation. In such markets, a relatively small order can move the price significantly, meaning you might not get the price you expect when buying or selling (this is the essence of slippage). Low-liquidity pairs often exhibit “false breakouts” and erratic price candles that can mislead traders, as well as generally poor risk-to-reward setups because of the unpredictability. In extreme cases, malicious actors could exploit these thin markets to manipulate prices, posing security risks to less experienced traders.

By removing these problematic pairs, Binance is effectively cleaning up the market and steering traders toward more reliable liquidity pools. This move improves price discovery (prices on remaining pairs more accurately reflect true supply and demand) and helps preserve market integrity. Traders benefit from tighter spreads and smoother execution when they stick to pairs with sufficient volume. Binance itself stated that all spot pairs are reviewed to “protect users and maintain trading quality standards,” underscoring that this cleanup is about fostering a safer and more efficient trading environment. In short, removing low-volume pairs reduces noise and risk in the exchange, which boosts trader confidence and contributes to a more professional, robust market overall. Far from being bearish, such actions are a sign of the market maturing and prioritizing quality over quantity.

How Traders Should Respond to Pair Delistings

If you find out that a trading pair you use is being delisted, don’t panic. Instead, take proactive steps to adjust. Here are some practical tips for traders to handle a pair delisting smoothly:

Act Early – Liquidity Dries Up Fast: Once a delisting notice is announced, liquidity on that pair will start shrinking quickly. Professional traders often move first, causing volume to collapse and spreads to widen well before the removal date. If you plan to exit a position or rebalance your holding in the affected market, do it as early as possible rather than waiting until the last day. This helps you avoid the worst of the slippage that comes as trading activity dwindles.
Cancel Open Orders: Immediately cancel any open limit orders you have on the soon-to-be-removed pair. Leaving orders active in a dying market is dangerous – you risk partial fills or getting your order executed at an unexpectedly poor price as liquidity evaporates. It’s safer to pull those orders and reconsider your strategy in a more liquid market.
Switch to More Liquid Pairs: Remember that the asset itself is usually still tradeable on Binance via other pairs. Move your trading to a stronger pair for that token – typically against major coins or stablecoins like USDT, BTC, or BNB, which have much deeper order books and tighter spreads. For example, if ALT/BNB is being delisted due to low volume, you might trade ALT/USDT instead where there's more activity. Following the liquidity will give you better prices and faster execution.
Avoid Last-Minute Trades: Do not wait until the final hours before the pair is delisted to try and trade out; by then liquidity is often nearly gone. In the last moments, markets can become extremely volatile with large price gaps, “stop hunts,” and severe slippage that can wipe out expected gains. If you missed the early window to exit, it may be wiser to use Binance’s conversion tool or simply hold the asset rather than forcing a trade in a dysfunctional market.
Use Delistings as a Portfolio Health Check: Take this event as a learning opportunity. Ask yourself if you are overexposed to low-volume assets or niche pairs that could face liquidity issues. Successful traders tend to focus on markets with solid volume and demand. If a significant portion of your portfolio is in tokens or pairs that rarely trade, consider consolidating into more liquid assets that better fit your strategy. Keeping your capital in healthier markets can reduce the likelihood of getting caught off-guard by future delistings.

By following these steps, traders can protect themselves and even turn a delisting event into a positive realignment of their trading strategy.

Short-Term Market Reaction and Historical Context

It is common to see short-term price reactions in the tokens affected by a pair delisting. In this case, many of the altcoins involved saw a price dip around the time of the announcement. As the largest crypto exchange, Binance withdrawing support for a trading pair can lead to reduced liquidity and visibility for that asset in the market. For example, Bio Protocol (BIO) – one of the projects whose BNB pair was removed – tumbled roughly 10% in price on the day Binance announced the delistings. This kind of knee-jerk drop reflects traders reacting to the news and the anticipated loss of a trading avenue. In general, when an exchange pares down support, the affected tokens might temporarily suffer lower demand and a hit to their reputation among investors.

However, these effects are usually short-lived and localized to the specific assets and pairs. Because Binance kept the core tokens listed (just via alternate pairs), liquidity can shift to those remaining pairs or to other exchanges, allowing markets to eventually stabilize. Past cases show that while a delisting can trigger immediate volatility, markets often find a new equilibrium as trading activity consolidates into the more liquid venues. It’s also important to distinguish a pair removal from a complete token delisting: when Binance only removes a pair, the impact is milder than if the exchange fully removed the coin from trading. (In contrast, when Binance has fully delisted certain coins in the past, those tokens suffered much steeper, more prolonged crashes – e.g. Kadena (KDA) plunged ~30% after Binance announced its full removal in late 2025.) In the January 9 case, no coin disappeared from Binance; traders simply need to use different, more liquid pairs to trade them.

On the whole, Binance’s market cleanup is a long-term positive. It signals that the exchange is actively managing its platform to weed out dead markets, which can increase overall market integrity. This approach of focusing on quality over quantity in trading pairs aligns with a broader industry trend as crypto matures. Exchanges are recognizing that hosting countless pairs has diminishing returns if many of those markets are idle or risky; instead, the emphasis is shifting to robust liquidity and compliance. For traders, this means a better experience: fewer sudden price anomalies, less exposure to manipulation, and a more reliable trading environment.

Conclusion

Binance’s decision to delist 23 low-volume trading pairs may have caused a brief stir, but it exemplifies the exchange’s commitment to maintaining a healthy trading ecosystem. By retiring pairs that few people trade, Binance helps ensure that users’ orders execute in markets that are liquid, fair, and efficient. Seasoned traders understand that such “house-cleaning” is actually beneficial – it reduces clutter and risk on the platform, forcing attention onto the pairs that truly matter. As discussed, there are clear steps traders can take to navigate these changes calmly, from acting early to shifting into more liquid markets. In the big picture, this kind of proactive pruning by exchanges is a sign of the crypto market maturing. It’s not a bearish signal about the assets involved, but rather a move toward higher standards and better trading conditions for all participants. Going forward, traders can feel more confident knowing that markets on Binance with active listings are more likely to be robust, and that the exchange is willing to make tough calls to protect users and improve market quality. In the fast-paced world of crypto, liquidity is king – and Binance’s latest actions show that ensuring strong liquidity across its offerings remains a top priority, which is good news for everyone trading on the platform.

Sources: Binance Official Announcement; Crypto.News report; CryptoPotato analysis; Binance Square trader insights; AInvest market commentary.

Every new year brings the same challenge in crypto: emotions. Excitement during pumps, fear during pullbacks, and hesitation when volatility hits. Dollar Cost Averaging, or DCA, is one of the simplest ways to reduce emotional decision-making and replace it with discipline.

DCA means investing a fixed amount at regular intervals instead of trying to time the market. Rather than asking where the bottom is, you focus on consistency. Over time, this approach helps smooth out price volatility and reduces the stress of short-term price movements.

Starting a DCA plan at the beginning of the year is especially powerful. It turns investing into a habit instead of a reaction. Binance makes this easy with automated and recurring purchase tools, allowing you to set your strategy once and let it work in the background. This is ideal for beginners and long-term investors who prefer a structured approach.

DCA is not about fast profits. It is about patience, process, and long-term conviction. In a market driven by sentiment, consistency often outperforms prediction.

Before starting, it is always a good idea to understand the assets you are investing in. You can explore real-time prices, charts, and market data for major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others through Binance’s Coin Price Directory: https://www.binance.com/en/price

DCA is a reminder that in crypto, discipline is not boring. It is a strategy.